Tennessee cracking down on auto insurance scofflaws

Tennessee recently joined other states in launching new efforts to crack down on drivers who fail to purchase auto insurance.

According to a report in the Chattanooga Times, the state has about a 20 percent non-compliance rate with its auto insurance law, which is said to be the sixth such highest rate in the country.

"Recently, I heard from a woman who was struck by an uninsured motorist who was texting. They were banged up pretty bad and had to go to the hospital. They are stuck with all those bills now, and the wreck wasn't her fault," State Senator Tim Burchett told the newspaper.

The newspaper noted that Tennessee has no way of finding out if a driver was uninsured unless they were pulled over by police for a traffic violation, unlike nearby Georgia, which maintains a system that suspends a license plate if a policy lapses.

Other states have their own issues with people who fail to purchase auto insurance. This is largely because of the recession, which has people trying to cut corners and expenses in ways that many never would have considered in more prosperous times.